Somewhere, I'll Find You
by aR-Ka-iC
Summary: Somewhere out there Gippal is in trouble. After Rikku receives a distorted Commsphere message when Gippal disappears in a storm, Rikku will journey to the ends of the Spira to find him only to find herself along the way. Discontinued until further notice.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy or any other reference to movies or music I may use along the way. The characters Ever and Shin are of my own creation however. This story is based on the song "Somewhere" by Within Temptation and a video I happen to come across depicting the idea in a different way. Credit goes out to DillyShilly of YouTube for her beautiful Video.

Prologue: Going Home

Bikanel was hot. Though when was it not? Upon arriving at the ruin that was home, it was hard to see at the time how we could ever go back. The site was abandoned. The HOME project was relocated to the south eastern coast of the island. With no more need to hide, a port city was the most desirable. It wasn't too long after that a certain machine faction hit the site with a mission. Home would be beautiful and it was through my own eyes that I would watch someone's story unfold. My name is Ever, but this is not my story. This is the story of an Al Bhed Princess finding the woman within to follow her heart. Rikku...

Chapter One: The Princess and the Pauper

Handmaiden, lady-in-waiting, ladies' maid, bodyguard; these were all words that could describe my presence in Rikku's life, but her title for me was friend. It had been almost a year since the start of project HOME. Rikku was returning to take her part in the reconstruction at last. I could see the problem a mile away. Gippal, leader of the machine faction, was also project leader and didn't take command all that well, nor did he hand it over. Rikku was next in line to lead her people.

The air was salty, blowing through my fine dark plum locks about my heart shaped face. My eyes, Al Bhed eyes stared intently past the beginnings of Home to the dunes ahead. I missed the sand. I looked down at my hands. My tan had faded horribly these past years. I looked down at Rikku beside me. Yes down. At 5'10 I stood eight inches over Rikku's 5'2. My Father had been half human, half Guado. My mother was Al Bhed. If you know your history, no my Father was not Seymour Guado, thankfully, but I never actually met my Father so I couldn't tell you his name, but enough about me. This is not my story after all.

Rikku stood at the railing, bubbly and confident as always. She wore blue today. A square cut halter bikini top with a khaki cargo skirt over her blue ankle boots. A short gradient scarf wrapped around her neck, flapping behind her in the breeze beginning at deepest midnight blue and ending all the way down at white. The color suited her well.

Cheers erupted from the dock. I turned back to see a crowd of people gathered together, jumping and cheering. I sighed.

Rikku looked up at me and said, "What is it Ever?"

I shook my head. "It's nothing, Rikku." My voice flowed smoothly, warmly from my full lips. "It's just been a long time." I left Bikanel as a child at 13. To say the other children were cruel was an understatement. I return now a woman, a better person for my personal suffrage.

The boat pulled into the dock cleanly without delay and I took my place just behind Rikku. Deep breath and down the gangplank we went, Rikku bouncing excitedly before me.

Just a little back story before we continue. I met Rikku not long after the defeat of Vegnagun. I was in Besaid when the airship Celsius blew in out of nowhere. Paine had left shortly after to work alongside Baralai in Bevelle. It had been years since I'd seen the princess herself. When word reached us that HOME would be rebuilt we had made the journey home together and became fast friends and the rest is, as they say, history. Cid had asked me personally to keep and eye on his girl when we left once more and I have not let him down yet.

As Rikku greeted each and every smiling face around her, most by name, I did notice a few missing from the gathering. One in particular, Gippal, Machine Faction and Project leader was conveniently absent. That wasn't a good sign.

"Ever!"

I turned again, sighing. Rikku bounded towards me. Everyone looked up at my name and the whispers began anew.

"Oh good grief," I murmured.

Rikku ignored them, tossing me a silver colored key. "Come on! Our apartment waits!"

"Ours?"

More whispers…

"Of course, silly, you think I'd leave you with no place to live? Let's go!"

I know I know, so the Princess and the Pauper, but I knew what the others were thinking. The Princess and the Freak Show.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Cid's Girl, a Thorn on a Desert Rose

Dawn came too soon…for me anyways. Dawn? WTF?

Vaguely as I became aware of my surroundings, the cause of said interruption of my sleep became apparent. Outside the apartment door someone was causing quite a commotion. The apartment itself had turned out to be a one room metal box with two beds and a bathroom. Well, I wasn't picky so I wasn't going to complain. Rikku had always been a very considerate roommate and it was certainly better than mixing among the general populous.

I stumbled to my feet, irritably, and padded barefoot towards the door intent on ripping whomever it was a new one. However, before I reached the door I began to recognize at least one of the voices.

"You are the most arrogant, self righteous-Argh!"

Rikku, uh oh…

"You know you weren't this difficult at thirteen!"

And that could only be Gippal.

"Difficult!"

Rikku again.

It was suddenly quiet. I stood frozen halfway between my bed and the door. What must have been their first encounter didn't seem to last very long. How much did I miss? If couldn't have been much or I certainly would have been awake much sooner.

The door burst open then. Rikku entered red face and huffing. "That man!" she spat. "Difficult!"

At first I didn't know what to say. I just stood there stunned for a moment. Then I just couldn't help myself. Try as I might to smother it, laughter bubbled up my throat and spilled between my lips. In between laughs I couldn't seem to find enough air and a sharp ache flared behind my ribs. I ignored it.

At first she looked indignant, placing her hands on her hips and pouting, but it wasn't long before she too dissolved into giggles. For a few moments we laughed together, loudly and ridiculously.

The laughter trailed off on my lips as a shadow paused in front of our door. I waited for the inevitable knock, but nothing happened. It disappeared after a moment longer, but I wondered. Rikku hadn't seen. Could that have been Gippal? What would he think passing by when one moment Rikku was in a fit of rage and the next she was laughing hysterically. If that was him he probably won't be too happy. Rikku's giggles faded and she bent clutching her sides for a moment. When she straightened she was herself again.

I smiled, "What was that all about?"

Rikku guffawed. "I may have been poking my nose around the site. I guess I got too close to the crane or something cause he dragged me out of there fast, sputtering the whole way."

"So you really knew him when you were thirteen?"

Rikku blushed, looking just a bit uncomfortable. I'd never seen her look like that. "Um I've known him a lot longer. We sorta grew up together."

"Did you always fight?"

"No not always."

"What happened between the two of you?"

Rikku looked up at me smiling, no longer uncomfortable. "I made the mistake of dating him."

I raised eyebrows at that. "I take it, it didn't end well." I giggled.

"No not at all." Rikku laughed to, but it didn't take a genius to see that it didn't reach her eyes. Rikku shook off the laugh and said, "Come on, sleepy head, let's get some breakfast."

Breakfast and all meals in general took place in a small hall with long tables. Great, it looked like high school all over again and I, the freak of nature, was the center of attention. At least for once I felt I'd given them a different reason to stare. No longer the gangly youth of my former life here, I filled out my unnatural height with muscle and tone. Today I wore a green cargo skirt over a purple and white graffiti string bikini with my only pair of black ankle boots. My dark plum locks were pulled half up out of my face with side wept bangs. Two braids on my left side looped around my ear and were pinned up by my ponytail. They barely helped disguise the purple veins that started on my left temple and stretched down the side of my face, the only other visible evidence besides my height of my Guado origins. I had another set larger than this on my left hip, but no one ever got to see those…well almost no one. Of course, everyone could also be staring at the twin thief blades I had attached to my hips, but I doubt I'll ever know.

Rikku was in white today. I know, odd. It was so because she's always so colorful, but yes she wore white. It was a short, midriff baring tank top with a yellow ruffled trim over a pair of tight fitting white shorts. Her boots and the blue scarf matched nicely, but still it just wasn't her. I was surprised by the bold choice, at first, and then Gippal walked into the room. I watched Rikku's eyes narrow just a bit and suddenly the outfit choice became rather obvious. I guess all's fair in love and war, or in this case just war…

We sat at a table in the very center of the room with our platters of fruit and grains. I speared a pineapple as soon as we sat and said, "So what's on the agenda for today?" before popping the delicious treat into my mouth. Swallowing appreciatively I next speared a grape.

A man approached the table, making himself look quite official, before Rikku could answer. "Rikku, orders from project leader Gippal. You are to meet Gippal in an hour for a dig run. You'll be heading to the western expanse."

"Looking forward to it, Raaj," Rikku replied, sarcastically, calling the man by name.

The man, Raaj, nodded and left the table.

"There," Rikku said when he was gone. "That's what we're doing today."

"But the orders were for you, not me," I replied.

"And I outrank him. He's lucky I don't stand him up."

"Oh that would be terrible."

"The worst!"

We laughed quietly as I watched Gippal speak to the man called Raaj and then head across the room towards the door, eyeing our table scornfully before exiting.

Outside it was hot and my skin relished the feeling of this clean, intense heat. The sand beneath my feet squashed and shifted reassuringly. It almost felt like home.

Rikku stood not too far from me shouting at a mechanic. It's true, you know. The heat makes people crazy.

"What do you mean he's not here?" she was saying. "He was supposed to meet us here half an hour ago! Well then, where is he? Is that right?"

She was moving back towards me. "That fricken-!" She took a few deep breaths to calm herself. "He's at the Oasis. Bastard!" She'd muttered that last. I smiled. Yep, crazy.

She marched up to a tarp and pulled it free of the contraption beneath it. It looked like something you'd use up in the mountains, like a snow ski.

"Sand speeder," she explained when I raised an eyebrow. "Gippal's got the other, so we'll have to ride together. They'll get us there much faster than a hover." She straddled the machine easily, scooting forward to make room for me.

"Is it safe?" I asked.

"Of course it is, come on!"

I sat side saddle with my ankles crossed and put a hand on either side of her waist.

"Hold on!" she squealed and hit the gas. We shot forward, spewing sand up behind us in an arc. Soon we were moving and I could no longer see the HOME site behind us.

After my nerves eased up I actually started to enjoy the ride. Rikku was a master behind the wheel of any machine so I had little fear of us crashing. We passed sand, sand and more sand. Not much too see out here, but it was beautiful all the same.

"See that?" Rikku pointed out as we passed.

In the distance I could see several green shapes sprouting up out of the ground. "What is that?" I asked.

"Cactaur Nation!"

"Here?"

"Yeah, found it a year ago with Paine and Yuna! Hang on, we're almost there!"

Sure enough, I could begin to see more shapes in the distance. Palm trees.

"I hope he's enjoying himself!" Rikku called back to me. "'Cause he's about to get an earful!"

I snickered behind her. I didn't doubt it.

We pulled into the remote paradise and Rikku slowed to a stop. She'd found the other sand speeder, but no Gippal.

"What the…hmmm…good. I hope he got eaten," Rikku smirked.

"Now you don't really mean that."

"Sure I do."

A splashing sound brought our attention to the pool of water. A dark shape moved easily through the water towards us. I hopped off the speeder, grabbed my blades and moved into fighter's stance. Rikku moved to do the same, but before she was off the bulky machine the dark shape broke the surface.

Gippal stood, drops of water clinging to the contours of his perfect physique. He was shirtless and all that sun kissed muscle glistened in the hot desert sun; his pecs, his biceps, his abs…holy hell! He was hot!

I froze, my eyes just as transfixed as I'm sure Rikku's were. He raised his head and shook out his blond hair. The droplets sparkled around him making him look ethereal.

"Where've you been?" he called. "I've been waiting for almost an hour."

Something hit the sand beside me followed by a low curse. I looked down to see Rikku sitting butt down in the sand. "Rikku?" I laughed.

Gippal had come up to shore and now stood over Rikku. His shadow fell heavily upon her blocking out the sun. "Took you long enough," he smirked.

"For what?" she asked.

"Too fall for me." His tone was mocking.

"In your dreams!" Rikku stood of her own accord and brushed herself off.

I realized I was still holding a loose fighter's stance despite the lack of danger. I slowly relaxed, dropping my hands to my sides and reattached each blade to my hips. The movement caught Gippal's attention and he no longer looked amused.

"What the hell are you doing here, Guadhubhed?"

Anger spiked through me, hot and immediate. In all my years away from Bikanel, no one had dared to utter my former nickname. I grabbed my blades again, twirled them over my head and returned to a fighter's stance. "You wanna come over here and say that?"

Gippal smirked, "Not today, Guadhubhed."

"Stop it, Gippal," Rikku scolded.

"Sorry, didn't know you were bringing your bodyguard."

"'Ever'" she emphasized my name, "is here because she is my friend, Gippal, which is more than I can say for you."

"Ouch that stings." The tone was mocking like before, but the eyes that looked away weren't. I relaxed my stance and glared at him quizzically. Was he hoping they'd be alone? I was suddenly uncomfortable and felt very third wheel.

"Are we headed to the western expanse or not?" Rikku whined.

I gave Gippal one last blank stare, shrugged and put up my blades. "I'm game," I said.

"Right," said Gippal as he spotted our 'one' speeder. "You know how to handle one of these, Guadhubhed?" He grinned at me.

I glared. "Shouldn't be too hard."

"No way, I'm driving! Race ya!" Rikku hopped onto the speeder and revved the engine to life.

I shrugged at Gippal and sat very ladylike behind Rikku.

"You're on!" Gippal announced, mounting his own speeder in one quick hop, throwing his shirt over his shoulders and taking off.

"Hey no fair!" Rikku whined, shooting forward so abruptly I almost lost my hold on her waist. I tightened my hold to keep from falling off.

…and so it was on.

The dunes passed in a blur as we steadily caught up to the spray of sand before us that was Gippal. The sun was rising higher in the sky. Sweat beaded down from my neck to the small of my back and farther. The wind was becoming abrasive, though Rikku was taking the blunt of it. "How much farther?" I asked over the whir of the engine.

"Not far!" she called back. "It's just over that dune!"

'That dune' was a massive mountain of sand before us. I watched Gippal slow up to head around it. Rikku harrumphed and opened the throttle wide. "Hang on!" she called back again.

I didn't like the sound of that. Ah hell…I wrapped my arms around Rikku's waist as tightly as I could as she hit the dune at high speed and ollied over the top of it into the air.

"Rikku!" Gippal cried out behind us. "No!"

"Whoohoo!" Rikku exclaimed as we hit the ground hard and spun to a stop in the western expanse. I pried myself from around her waist slowly, but promptly fell off the speeder on my ass, legs in the air. Frazzled? Nah…

Gippal came skidding to a halt near us. "Are you crazy?" He sounded angry, but he looked anything but. Was that fear in his eyes?

That seemed to be my gift in life, reading people, but it comes in handy from time to time though.

I quickly rolled to my knees, so I wasn't flashing the matching bikini bottoms.

"Maybe!" Rikku announced, dismounting cleanly and striding towards Gippal. "So what, I won!"

"By cheating," Gippal muttered, watching her sway towards him. It might have been my imagination this time, but it looked to me like…maybe, he wasn't entirely over her. Five years is a long time to long for something you've lost. Rikku had explained little of what had actually happened between them. Hmmm…the next few days should be interesting.

"So where is this thing anyways," Rikku asked.

Gippal's shirt was left gaping open over his chest as he stood, but he removed it and threw it over the speeder. He took out a small device and made a few adjustments. When he looked up, he said, "This way and watch your back!"

We moved tirelessly through the sand following Gippal's lead well into the distance. Every now and then he adjusted his path. I looked back. The speeders were several feet behind us now and drifting father and farther away. How far? I wondered, but didn't verbalize it.

Rikku, however, did.

"Come on Gippal! This feels like such a waste of time."

"You wanna go? Leave already; I can handle this by myself."

"And leave you in the desert. Ha! I'd never hear the end of it."

"Worried about me?"

"No, the desert." She motioned around her, grinning. "Poor sand."

I sighed.

"You got a problem back there, Guadhubhed? Excuse me, 'Ever'." He placed quotes around my name with his fingers.

"Fuck you!" I spat. Now I don't usually swear which you could tell by Rikku's shocked reaction, but it was hot and I was reaching my breaking point.

Gippal smirked. "Here," he said, stopping and stooping to the ground.

I looked back once more at the speeders. They were little more than specks on the horizon. How long had we been walking? When I looked back Gippal was hunched, the muscles in his back working with the effort his arms issued in moving the sand. I nudged Rikku, who was feigning interest over a string on her scarf. She looked up at me and I nodded down at Gippal. She glanced quickly and for a moment her eyes went wide. Then she shook herself.

"Come on Gippal, hurry up. If you're gonna take so long, let me do it." Rikku whined.

Gippal stood brushing sand from his body. "Be my guest," he smirked.

Rikku scowled, but knelt down and continued Gippal's work. A minute or so passed in silence.

"Strange," I said.

Gippal looked at me. "What is?"

"It's…quiet."

"How can it be with Rikku around?" He laughed.

"I heard that," Rikku mumbled from the whole she was digging.

"No," I went on. "I mean don't you think it's strange we haven't seen anything out here?"

Gippal thought about this.

A squawking overhead interrupted my thoughts. I looked up to see several birds like the Zu and Aquila flock over us, heading south.

"Strange," I heard Gippal mutter and I smirked. When I looked back at him, though, he wasn't looking at the birds. I looked where his attention was rapt, north. A haze covered the horizon.

"Sandstorm," Gippal calmly noted, voicing my fears.

Already it seemed closer. My eyes widened as I recalled a day in the desert with my mother.

"Hurry up, Rikku. Storm's coming." Gippal bent and hopped down to help her.

"No," I said. "It's too fast."

"How would you know, Guadhubhed?" Gippal spat.

"Don't call her that!" Rikku retorted, coming up and getting to her feet with a cylinder head in her hands. Dust marked her arms, face and clothes. She looked north with us. "It does look strange…" her voice trailed off as horror broke across her face. "Holy-!"

I cut her off. "Cactai Stampede!" And as if to confirm my fears, the dust around the base of the storm cleared to an indistinct green color. It would be here in minutes…less even.

Gippal grabbed the part from Rikku and then her hand, hoisting her up out of the ditch she had created. "Come on!" he said, breaking her reverie and dragging her away.

"Wait for me!" I called, hurrying after them. We dashed back the way we'd come, but we might as well have been trying to swim…we'd never make it. The cloud gained rapidly.

Gippal must have noticed this too. He increased his speed and I put everything I had into increasing mine. My long legs had to be good for something. The sun was high now and I was tired. We all were.

"Gippal, we'll never make it!" I heard Rikku say, but I couldn't look around for her.

"Yes we will!" Gippal said through gritted teeth. His jaw clenched with the effort it took to focus on nothing, but running.

My legs burned, my arms felt heavy as they pumped. My breath was coming in short gasps and through it all I could feel a sharp ache behind my ribs.

"Gippal," I said. I felt I could go no further.

"No we keep going!"

I looked up at Gippal. His face was etched with fierce determination. My mind clicked something into place, but I couldn't afford to worry about any of that now. No, we would get though this and suddenly we were there! Gippal dropped the part into a side bag. He hopped onto the speeder, pulling Rikku on behind him. She wrapped her arms tightly around his chest. "Blue button!" he yelled at me. "Then green. Hang on!"

I did as he said, straddling the great machine and hitting both buttons one after the other. The speeder roared and shot forward. It took only a moment to get my bearings and the controls seemed infinitely simpler, after all I had ridden similar machines before. We were off quickly on a southeast pass just in the nick of time. I took a moment to glance behind me. They were close, too close for comfort, but we missed them. They hadn't caught us. We pulled away from the cloud of dust and Cactai and headed for HOME. I don't know who it started with, but soon all of us were laughing. The ache behind my ribs flared and then eased.

"Nice call, Guad-uh-Ever," Gippal said.

"Thanks Gippal," I smiled. I couldn't help it. He was a rather infectious person, which could probably explain why he and Rikku fought like two lupine over a scrap of meat. I'd bet if he was angry he'd make others around him feel the same way and Rikku had a nasty temper of her own. Speaking of Rikku…

"Wow we got out of there fast!"

I glanced over. She was standing, hands on Gippal's shoulders with his shirt flapping about her shoulders. He looked up at her with a mix of irritation and…what was that? Propriety? Holy Crow! There was the click again. The fierce determination to get her out of there, the show of strength and now he looked like someone appraising his property appreciatively. Gippal was so not over Rikku, only did she know that? Probably not…

"What else can this baby do?" Rikku hopped back onto the seat and reached around Gippal towards the buttons.

"No don't touch-!"

Gippal's exclamation was cut off by the speeder abruptly coming to a halt. Gippal flew over the handle bars, landing face first in the sand.

"Oops, sorry!" Rikku called out still seated on the speeder.

I wheeled around and headed back to their position, coming to a stop not four feet from Rikku.

Gippal rose slowly, not bothering just yet to brush himself off. Anger and annoyance radiated from his expression as he marched across the sand, looking bigger and more powerful than ever. Threatening almost and he was stalking directly towards Rikku.

I reached for a blade, but he waved a hand at me. "That won't be necessary."

I kept my hand on the hilt anyhow.

Rikku shrank in his shadow as his massive form once again blocked out the sun around her. She shivered as her eyes locked on his physique. The look in her eyes, barely recognizable behind the hesitation, was something I'd never seen from her before. Want. Need. HIM.

He held out his hand to her. "My shirt."

Absently, Rikku removed the shirt form her person and handed it to him. He threw it around himself, not bothering to button it.

"Off now," he commands.

I hopped off my speeder as Rikku did as she was told. Silently she mounted the speeder and I sat side saddle behind her. No one spoke until we were back at HOME site.

"Reckless! Irresponsible!" were just a few choice words Gippal was now throwing at Rikku. "Granted you found the cylinder head, but your pace in achieving it was awful."

"You're one to talk!" Rikku retorted, standing as tall as her five feet two inches would allow her. I stood just behind her, a little to the side glaring at Gippal and ready to interfere if need be.

"Childish!" Gippal spat. "It's time you grew up, Cid's girl and learn to take direction. You're acting like a spoiled brat!"

Rikku sniffled once, but stood her ground. Brave girl, but I'd had enough.

"Enough, Gippal!" I said, stepping out from behind her to face him down.

Gippal glared back at me. "And you! You're not even supposed to be here, Guadhubhed! In fact, you don't belong here!"

I winced. "I know," I muttered.

"What? Ever? Of course you belong here!" Rikku defended.

"Thanks, Rikku, but not everyone feels that way." My words were for her, but I continued to glare at Gippal.

"Well, that's the best thing about life. People can change…even their minds." She looked at Gippal with so much scorn I would have winced under that glare. The phrase 'If looks could kill' comes to mind…

The water, thankfully, was cool as I washed the sand and grit from every nook and cranny of my being. I rubbed a hand over the purple veins on my hip and scowled. No matter what I did, who I tried to be, I would always be different. I think it's about time I accepted that. I shut the water off. It was starting to get warm. The towel was soft. So would be my bed when I made it there.

I dressed comfortably so I could grab something to eat before calling it a night. I dressed in white linen, breathable. The sheath covered me from neck to knee. It was sleeveless. I wrapped a lavender belt around my waist to keep it from ballooning around me and found my boots waiting by my bed.

The hall was empty as I made my way to dinner alone. Quiet it was not, however, especially when I passed the office of Rikku's father, leader of the Al Bhed, Cid.

"Look, I understand your feelings on this, but perhaps with a bit more time-"came Cid's voice only to be cut off as another man spoke.

"I'm sorry Cid."

Oh my, it was Gippal! I slowed my pace so I could listen without looking like I was.

"This is the way it's got to be," he went on. "Nothing's changed."

"Well, if you're certain…" Cid's voice again followed by silence.

The door opened abruptly, revealing Gippal in a petulant mood. He stopped as the door swung shut behind him. "What are you looking at?" he spat before stalking off.

WTF? No Guadhubhed? Something was up. I quickened my pace to dinner. I just had to tell Rikku.

When I arrived at the hall it was evident that Rikku was not there so I put on a brave face and asked some random Al Bhed if they'd seen her. At first, the woman just stared at me. Then she shrugged and went back to her business. Ok, breaking point again. I was getting really irritated with all this Guadhubhed bullshit. I made a rude huffing noise, turned on heel and marched out of the hall. Gippal should be worried if he ran into me right now.

I couldn't think of anywhere else she would go so I headed back to the apartment. She was there, sitting with her knees drawn back to her chest with her arms wrapped around them. Her chin rested on her knees and she rocked back and forth.

I came in and sat down on my bed. "Something wrong Rikku?" I asked.

She smiled and shook head, her knees straightening a bit. "Nothing really," she said. "Hey Ever? Do you think I'm a spoiled brat?"

"What? Where is this coming from?"

"It's just that…um…well you're my friend, so you'd be honest with me right?"

"Of course, Rikku, but is all this self doubt stemming from what Gippal said?"

"Maybe…"

That last was whispered.

"Ok come on!" I said, getting to my feet. "The sun has set, it's getting dark out. Everything's all nice and cool now. Let's go for a run around the site! Whaddyah say?"

"What? I don't know, I think I've had all the running I can take today."

"Yeah, you're probably right." We both laughed as I sat back down. The memory of that afternoon was still fresh. I remembered the feeling I got that Gippal wasn't quite over Rikku. Should I tell her? Thinking this brought back why I'd been looking for her in the first place.

"Oh!"

"What's up Ever?"

"You won't believe this!"

"What?"

Rikku swung her legs over the side of her bed and sat on the edge of her seat.

"Ok," I said, mimicking her. "So, earlier, I was walking off to dinner when I ran into Gippal coming out of your Dad's office."

Rikku looked a bit disappointed. "Well that's not unusual. He is the machine faction's leader, after all, and project leader."

"This time was different. Listen…" I repeated back to her everything I had heard which wasn't much.

"Oh!" she squeaked when I was finished.

"What do you think it means? Do you know what he was talking about?" I asked.

Rikku shook her head. "No, but it sounds like he could be leaving."

"Why would he do that?"

"Beats me."

Rikku hopped up from her bed. "I probably should go talk to my Father. I'll be right back."

And she was out the door before I could say more. Another great Al Bhed Mystery for her to solve, I'm sure. I probably wouldn't have caught it if I hadn't been watching the door. A shadow blocked the light from beneath the door and lingered there. Remembering what had happened this morning I didn't think as I threw the door open and stared back into the surprised face of Gippal.

"Gippal? Was that you this morning too?" I asked.

He looked even more surprised that this hadn't been an accident.

"Are you here to see Rikku?" I offered when he didn't speak.

He looked me in the eye for a moment and seemed to make up his mind. "No, I was just passing through." And with that he turned and left.

When he neared the corner at the end of the hall, I had a strong compulsion to follow him. I rarely ignored my intuition and I didn't in this instance either.

Shutting the door silently behind me, I hurried forward, taking great care to keep out of sight and to not get too close.

He'd led me all the way to the hangar. I crouched behind some cargo and listened in as Gippal spoke to another Al Bhed I recognized as Raaj.

"Storm's coming, boss," Raaj said. "Are you sure you should be heading out into that?"

"Nothing I can't handle. No storm's ever taken down this ship," Gippal replied marveling at the craft in front of him. His ship, the 'Excavator'.

A few moments of nothing went by and I wondered if it was time to make my exit. Gippal merely paced back and forth as others loaded up supplies and trade items into the vessel. He checked lists, signed off on others and continued to pace back and forth. He looked like he was in a hurry to leave. So he was leaving, but why?

I was getting bored by now, my calves started cramping beneath me. I'd decided to make my move when a noise from the door startled all of us. In all the noise I fell back on my ass, but no one seemed to have heard me. They were all gazing intently at the door.

Rikku came stumbling in through the door and walked right passed my hiding place without any notice that I was there. Apparently, someone had confirmed Gippal's imminent departure.

"Well hello, Princess," Gippal said, upon pulling himself out of whatever shock her sudden presence had caused. "What can I do for you?"

Rikku stepped over the stray bits of this and that on the floor more carefully this time and got right up in his face. "And just where do you think you're going?" she said, hands on hips.

He smiled. "Now I don't think that's any of your business."

"Oooh you're impossible!?"

"Well, as you can see, I'm very busy here so…" He turned the full force of his gaze on her. "What do you want, Cid's girl?"

"I-uh…" She seemed a bit surprised by the question. She'd clearly been prepared for another argument and maybe a few insults, like earlier. "Nothing," she finished.

"Then I believe we have nothing more to discuss here. So, if you please…" He made shooing gestures with his hands.

She hesitated like she wanted to say more, but then with a frustrated noise she marched herself out of the room.

After a few more moments of nothing I made my escape. These were strange events. I didn't even want to begin to think what would happen next.

When I returned to the apartment it was dark. Rikku was curled up into a ball on her side upon her bed. Lightning flashed outside the window followed by a distant rumble of thunder. I knew Rikku had overcome her fears of thunder, but perhaps with one fear suppressed others were breaking through. There really wasn't anything I could do for her now. Something was wrong, that was obvious, but what I didn't have a clue. I silently lay down to sleep, hoping not to disturb her, as rain began to smatter the roof. The first rain Bikanel had seen in over a millennium.


End file.
